New £5m national academy to train maintenance apprentices

Oct 21 20142014-10-21T09:52:00+02:00

A new £5m national training academy is to be built at Humberside Airport to produce up to 60 apprentices every year and more than 150 new jobs over three years.

The facility will house our RJ Mitchell Aircraft Maintenance Academy which will act as a nationwide hub to train apprentices for the maintenance and servicing of UK fighter jets and to support our international customers.

It is named after the aeronautical engineer behind aircraft including the Supermarine Spitfire, famous for its involvement in the Second World War which can trace its history to our business of today.

The academy, set to be supported through the Regional Growth Fund, will be modelled on Resource Group’s existing state-of-the-art training facilities and incorporate a hangar, training aircraft, classrooms and practical training workshops.

Supporting fast-jet fleet

Resource Group will be providing a totally managed service including assets, facilities, training and accommodation.

We will take on up to four cohorts of 15 apprentices (60 in total) each year, on a two-year apprenticeship, who will be trained to NVQ level three.

It is planned to include one cohort directly from the Humber University Technical College (UTC), followed by a 24-month programme split between academic modules and on-the-job practical training usually at RAF Coningsby, RAF Marham and RAF Valley, on Typhoon, Tornado and Hawk jets respectively.

Once they have qualified, they will become part of the BAE Systems team, working alongside the RAF in supporting the fast-jet fleets at RAF Coningsby and RAF Marham as well as travelling overseas to support international customers.

Exciting project

Martin Blaze, our Director of Aircraft Maintenance and Support, said: “We are really looking forward to working with our partners on this exciting project.

“The need for BAE Systems to establish a capability to support our Armed Forces has never been greater as we export our products in line with Government policy and are committed to supporting the products and the nations who buy them, as our allies.

“This Academy gives us the opportunity to develop the individuals to the highest level of competence to ensure safe operations.

“We also anticipate that BAE Systems personnel from places such as Saudi Arabia and Oman will also come to this facility to be trained to then return to work in country, which will be a huge feather in the cap of all concerned.”

Graduation ceremony

Our apprentices will be based at a temporary base at Humberside Airport from the start of December 2014 with the new academy due to be completed by October 2015.

On Friday, October 24, Humberside Airport will host our first-ever graduation ceremony where around 70 apprentices will be presented with awards to mark their work undertaken at the academy, which is presently based at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

This will also act as the sod-cutting ceremony for the academy and will be marked by a fly-past of a Spitfire.